Wednesday’s Rugby News looks at the Waratahs planning to play up-tempo rugby against the Lions, key All Blacks returning for the All Kiwi semi, a review into the TMO and young Reds lapping up the Wallabies camp
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Waratahs ready to enter Lions den
Nick Phipps has stated that the Waratahs will not die wondering in their quest to tame the Lions during their semi final on Saturday.
Phipps has rubbished any ideas of playing a slow tempo game despite the potential fatigue that the team faces with their intensive travels to South Africa.
“I don’t really know why there is all this talk about travel being a massive factor. Every single person in the squad has travelled before, and we have all the best staff helping us out. It’s not a big issue,” Phipps said.
“I don’t think we’re going to come into a semi-final and change the way we play now. We’re not going to die wondering. We’re ready to play our game and play it to the best of our ability.”
Phipps noted Kurtley Beale as the focal point for the team’s attack, believing that he is the ultimate barometer of the side’s fortune and success.
“KB is that man for us, he’s our spark. Seeing KB grow this year and his ability to turn nothing into something, he wants to be in that leadership role and drive the way we play as much as possible,” Phipps said.
“When we want to know how the squad is going, we ask him. He gets that feel. He’s playing some great footy. We’re all playing some great footy.”
Phipps believes that the side is better placed than where they were for their successful 2014 Super Rugby campaign, noting the strong mix of experienced veterans and hungry young rookies in the side.
“We’ve got the best of both worlds at the moment…I can say that we have a lot of guys that love turning up for the big games. You see the Iceman [Bernard Foley] and KB and Izzy [Folau] on the weekend and you saw how hard our pack worked.”
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Savea saviour for Hurricanes
In the other semi final, Ardie Savea could be set to make a remarkable recovery to be fit in time for the Hurricanes clash with the Crusaders.
The 24-year-old hasn’t played since suffering a high ankle sprain playing for the All Blacks against France a month ago and there was some suggestion that his Super Rugby season would be over.
After their win over the Chiefs, Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said “we won’t get anyone back” for this weekend’s Super Rugby semifinal against the Crusaders, nodding when being asked if this statement included Savea.
However, Savea has made significant improvements in his health, coming through a series of strenuous speed and agility drills unscathed on Monday.
Assistant coach Jason Holland said Savea is still to prove his readiness.
“Oh, only a small chance. We haven’t really talked about it at the moment. He’s a real outside chance [and] he’s ticking away at the boxes he needs to tick and more realistically he might need a little bit more time I think,” Holland said.
With Savea continuing to improve, it will interesting to see if the Hurricanes are willing to risk playing the young flanker in such a crucial game.
Both teams came through the first round of the finals relatively unscathed, with the Crusaders expected to have the services of prop/serial grub Joe Moody back for the clash at AAMI Park, where the home side were victorious 24-13 in their clash earlier in the season.
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TMO called in for its own review
“not sure lets check with the TMO”
After seemingly to be more prevalent in some games than the rugby itself, World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper has called for a review into the extensive use of the TMO system.
Rugby officials are set to examine the excessive use of the Television Match Official and could enact changes as early as November to return control and power to the men in the middle.
The move follows a review into the TMO system announced last week by SANZAAR, which admitted to “some challenges” (frontrunner for understatement of the year) during Super Rugby and Tests in the June international window.
“There is probably too much reliance at the moment on the TMO,” World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper told media in San Francisco.
“The feeling in the room is that we would like referees, themselves, to take a bit more control. That’s something that we are going to work through.”
“We think we have the ability to move quickly, maybe have a different protocol ready to test in November, potentially.”
The TMO and the disciplinary process around the issuing of red cards (*cough* Ed Quirk) have been under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks, with southern hemisphere coaches querying certain decisions and criticising the protocols currently in place.
SANZAAR chief executive Andy Marinos said last week they felt referees needed to take control of the games again, with the TMO providing “context to the officials’ decision making”.
Personally, I give it 12 months before we do a 360 and everyone starts talking about how we need the TMO more in the decision making process.
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Rookie Reds soak in Wallaby wealth
Young Reds Hamish Stewart and Jordan Petaia having been living the dream in Wallaby camp this week, relishing the opportunity to soak up valuable knowledge from their Wallaby idols.
Stewart was slated to come into camp in June but instead, he was called up to join the Junior Wallabies in their World Cup campaign in France.
Two days into the camp, Stewart was still adjusting to being alongside some of Australian rugby’s stars, keen to make the most of his chance.
“It was a bit surreal this morning, having breakfast with David Pocock and just going at it and training with Bernie (Stephen Larkham) and you have to pinch yourself sometimes to know how lucky you are,” he said.
Stewart is set to take over control at the Reds next year with Jono Lance set to rejoin English side Worchester Warriors for the 2019 season.
Stewart’s Queensland teammate Petaia burst onto the scene this year and the pair has become the new faces of the Reds backline.
Petaia stepped up for the Reds in the last weeks of the Super Rugby season at 13 with Kerevi injured but wing appears to be his preferred spot, with his strength and explosive pace making him a dangerous weapon on the edge.
Petaia said any chance to help push his credentials and improve the competition around the Test squad is something he would embrace.
“That’d be insane (playing for the Wallabies), you never know, but (I’ll) just keep training hard and just focus on this camp at the moment and just competing with the boys and just making everyone around us better,” he said.
“By competing with each other, help to bring the squad up and help to bring our level of competition up and just help everyone overall and just improve our performance.”
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